Would someone kindly escort Gene Chizik to the front door, toss him out into
the street on his derriere and tell him the Alabama national championship
celebration is a private affair? No party crashers allowed.

With the way Auburn's new football coach is behaving, would anyone really be
surprised if he shows up in April at the unveiling of the Nick Saban statue
outside Bryant-Denny Stadium and demands one of his own? Who does this guy think
he is? What's he accomplished?

He arrived at Auburn with a 5-19 record. Chizik's Auburn team lost five of
its last six SEC games in 2009. In three of those games, the Tigers blew
14-point leads. The regular season record was 7-5 (3-5 in the SEC). So Auburn
leads Alabama for 58 minutes and 36 seconds in the Iron Bowl? Is that worthy of
an SI commemorative issue or a special collectors' DVD?

Well, don't tell Auburn fans, but they are celebrating these days like they
have just run the table over the last two regular seasons. They are acting like
they are on a 26-2 run which includes a national championship, to say nothing of
a Heisman in the house. This, as opposed to the way it's really been -- a record
of 13-12 over the past two years, paying off one coach nearly $6 million to go
away before starting all over again.

Auburn folks are acting as if their team will be preseason No. 1 when the
polls come out in a few months as opposed to being among those also receiving
votes. The nerve of them, many Alabama fans are saying. Who in the world do they
think they are? Where did they come up with this ridiculous scheme?

You know where? From Alabama fans.

In many respects, Auburn has ripped the Nick Saban template right out from
under the Tide Nation. Before Saban arrived, the Tide Nation was at low ebb,
coming off a 6-7 season. The Tide had lost five straight games to Auburn.
However, Saban generated excitement and optimism, and he did it mostly on the
recruiting trail. Saban and an outstanding group of assistants created buzz and
it propelled them into a top recruiting class.

Chizik followed the same script. Auburn had big-time recruiting weekends.
They took a limo all over the state. And it worked. Recruiting was a smash.
Optimism is soaring. The Auburn fan base has bought in and so have many in the
media.

A very strong statement, dripping in symbolism. However, if you check the
history books, I don't know if Chizik wants the same result. Or does he really
care?

Perhaps Chizik is smart enough to know there is no way Auburn can ever really
beat Alabama on a consistent basis, or at least as long as Saban goes to work
every day on Paul Bryant Drive. Perhaps his strategy is to create as much chaos
for as long as possible. What's to lose?

It starts in recruiting and then transfers over to the football field. Saban
had doubters after his first year, a bitterly disappointing 7-6 mark which
included a home loss to Louisiana-Monroe.

Of course, nobody was doubting by December 2008 when the Tide was No. 1 in
the nation taking on Florida for a ticket to the national championship game. The
Tide fell short but Saban had sown the seeds.

What must Chizik do to keep this ball rolling?

While Alabama will be the preseason No. 1 pick, little will be expected -- at
least nationally -- from Auburn. With the Iron Bowl in Tuscaloosa, will simply
hanging with the Tide count as another moral victory for Chizik?

For now, Auburn fans will likely remain upbeat and let the Chizik saga play
out. The program has a steady pulse and significant progress has been made under
the new regime.

And most important, and bothersome to Tide fans, Auburn has surprisingly
stolen some of the thunder from Nick Saban during the afterglow of the national
championship celebration.